Estes Park Soccer wins keep coming

Walt Hester Trail-Gazette

Posted:
10/02/2012 04:49:35 AM MDT

The Estes Park Bobcat soccer team racked up two more wins in three days, last week. The boys started by pounding the Valley Vikings on Thursday, 9-0, then took the long drive out to Sterling to defeat the Tigers 5-3.

"I'm pretty happy with the outcome," said Estes Park head soccer coach, Kay Hays. "We have to learn to score, and we did that."

The squad started this latest tare on Thursday afternoon by host the Valley Vikings on a near-perfect afternoon for soccer. No wind and lots of sunshine, right before a downpour of goals.

At just under 10 minutes into the game, Erick Dominguez passed from the left to Zach Pierce in the center. The move illuded the Valley keeper leaving an open net.

Pierce shot and Jon Youngbluth, while following the ball in, bumped the ball, receiving credit for the first score.

It was not long before the game started getting physical, and headed toward chippy. While crashing the Valley net after a shot, Andrew Cirone bumped the Viking keeper, Harry Hernandez, who stood his ground and leaned into the charging Bobcat. This bump drew a yellow card for Cirone from a visibly angry referee. The call didn't seem to matter, however.

Less then 30 seconds later, Pierce would find the net all on his own. The Bobcats were consistantly pressuring the Vikings and it would be just a matter of time before the goals piled up. The Bobcats' passes were often finding the Vikings flat.

With under two minutes in the first half, a fast 'Cat got free again. Erick Dominguez corralled a long pass and found himself alone against the Viking keeper. Hernandez dove to block Dominguez' shot, but the talented forward got the ball around the sprawlled Viking. Hernandez reached out and tripped Dominguez to save the goal in the short term. The move, however, drew a red card and ejection for Hernandez. After the Vikings switched keepers, Estes Park's Pierce put the penalty shot low and right, into the Viking net to make the score 3-0 at the half.

The second half only got worse for the Vikings. The Bobcats' Youngbluth scored with just under six minutes gone in the half. Erick Dominguez, taking a corner kick from the right side, dropped the ball infront of the net where Youngbluth found it, and headed the ball out of the air, into the Valley net. 4-0 Estes Park.

Jorge Moralez was the next 'Cat to score, taking the tally to 5-0, followed by Jon Treat at 28:04 remaining, who launched a long shot from the left side, from beyond the top of the penalty box that found the upper right hand corner of the net. 6-0 Estes Park. Seven minutes later, Dominguez struck again to raise the tally to 7-0.

Coach Hays began subbing at that point, with 20 minutes remaining. She moved keeper Josh Hays out of goal and on to the field, replacing him with sophomore keeper Adam Tully. Other 'Cats were moved or replaced in favor of younger players. The goals continued, however.

The Bobcats' Pierce would earn a hat trick with his third goal coming with 16:15 left on the clock. About three minutes later, Pierce would earn an assist with his pass to Josh Hays, who rocketted the ball to the back of the Viking net. Final score, Bobcats 9, Vikings 0.

On Saturday, the Bobcats took the long, three-hour bus ride out to Sterling to face the Tigers. The Tigers had held Frontier Academy to a 1-1 draw earlier in the season, signaling that this would be no cakewalk.

"That three-hour ride is like spotting them a goal," explained coach Hays. "But we got a good warm up and were ready."

Isaac Cirone drew first blood for the Bobcat's. Brother Andrew sent a crossing pass in from the left of the net to Isaac who was able to bury the ball and give the 'Cats the 1-0 lead.

At about 16:00 remaining in the first, Jon Youngbluth would pass to Erick Dominguez who found the net from about 20 feet out. The teams would go to he half with the score Estes Park 2, Sterling 0.

At about six minutes into the second half, Jon Treat would find Dominguez open again, and Dominguez would find the Tigers net from nearly dead center and 25 feet out. 3-0 'Cats. The Tigers would come to life at this point, letting the Bobcats know this would still be a game.

At 23:17, Sterling sent a crossing pass in that left keeper Josh Hays one-on-one with the Tiger forward. The Sterling player shot to put the first goal past Hays in five and a half games.

At 14:31 remaining, the Bobcat defense failed to clean up a loose ball in front of their net and Sterling was able to add another score, 3-2 'Cats.

"At that point, we got a little scared," said the coach. "But we took care of it pretty quickly."

Less than a munites later, in fact, the Bobcats regained momentum. Estes Park's Dominuguez would earn a hat trick and spark the 'Cats back to life when we hooked a corner keep all the way from the right corner into the upper left corner of the Tigers' net. 4-2 Estes Park.

Jon Treat would steal a Tiger ball and find the net with two other team mates. Treat's goal brought the score up to 5-2 'Cats.

The Tigers kept fighting, however, and would get the games last goal on a headder with under two minutes to play. Final score, Bobcats 5, Tigers 3.

The Sterling Tigers will have to take the long ride this weekend. The Bobcats, now 8-2, will host the 5-3-2 Tigers beginning at noon on Saturday to wrap up Homecoming Week athletics.

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